Head for tripods.



No.' 658,958. Patented Det. 2, |900. C. W. MORRELL &..H H. MGNAUGHTDN.

A HEAD FDR TRIPUDS.

(Application led Nov. 7. 1899.) (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLEs w. MCRRELL AND HART H. MCNAUGHTCN, CE CHARLOTTE,

' MICHIGAN.

HEAD FoRTRlPoDs.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 6585958, dated October 2, 1900- Application tiled November 7, 1899. Serial No. 736,177. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES W. MoR- RELL and HART H. MCNAUGHTON, citizens of the United States, residing at Charlotte, in the county of Eaton and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Head for Tripods, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to tripods for supporting cameras, surveyinginstruments, dac. and has for its object to provide an improved head which may be folded into compact form, so that the legs connected thereto may also f old into a comparatively-small bundle, and thereby facilitate the transportation and storage of the tripod.

To this' end the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificin g any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is atop plan view of the improved head in the set-up position of the tripod. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation thereof, showing the manner of connecting a camera or other instrument thereto. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the head in its folded position. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view-of Fig. 3.

,Corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings are designated by like characters of reference.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that the head comprises separate plates 1, 2, and 3, respectively, which are substantially duplicates in form and pivotally or hingedly connected, so as to fold inward and overlap one another. Each plate is of substantially-rectangular form and provided with a lateral extension 4, projecting inwardly from the inner edge of the plate and intermediate of the opposite sides thereof. At opposite ends of the plate are pendent bearingears 5. To these ears are pivotally connected the upper ends of the members 6 of the respective legs of the tripod by means-of a suit- ,able transverse pivot-pin 7.

The plate 1 is the fixed or stationary mem ber of the head and is provided with bearingears 8, which are located at the opposite inner :corners of the plate and to which the other vplates or members are pivotally connected. `The corners of the plates 2 and 3, which are contiguous to the stationaryplate, are also 'provided with bearing-ears 9, which rest upon the'respective ears of the stationary plate .and are connected thereto by the respective upright pivot-pins 10. By reference toA Fig.`

2 it will be seen that the plate 2 is mounted directly upon the fixed plate, while the other plate 3 is spaced above said. fixed plate by means of a washer l1, so that the plate 2 may be accommodated between the fixed plate and the other plate 3.

From the foregoing description it will be vunderstood thatthe plate 2 is adapted to be folded'laterally inward upon theJ fixed plate l and the plate 3 also folded laterally inward andv across the top of the plate 2, so that the head may be decreased in size to substantially that of one of the plates.

` To prevent separation ot' the plates in the Setup position of the tripod, we provide athumbscrew 12, which projects upwardly through the extension 4 of the fixed plate and at a in Fig. l, it will be seen that the outer ends of the slots 13 engage against the shank of the thumb-screw l2 in the open position of the head and form stops limiting the outward movement of the hinged plates, and by tightening the thumb-screw the plates may be fixedly held in their relatively-open positions.

In the folded position of the head, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and4of the'drawings, it will be seen that the legs of the plate 2 are folded alongside of the legs of the fixed plate and the legs of the plate 3 fold over in the oppo- IOO site direction against the outer sides of the legs of the plate 2, so that the legs of the tripod are in contact with one another and form a substantially-rectangular bundle. It will be noted that the lateral extension of the plate 3 or the plate itself is longer than the other two plates, so as to accommodate the legs of the plate 2 between those of the other two plates.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the present tripod-head comprises normallysuperposed pivotally connected members which are foldable inwardly one upon the other and in substantially-parallel planes, so that said members may be alined one above the other and received within the same compass in the folded position of the head.

To connect a camera or other instrument to the head of the tripod, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the bottom 14 of the instrument is provided upon its under side with a fixed nut l5 let into the bottom l-'t and receiving the upper projecting threaded end of a thumb-screw 12, so that the bottom 14 may rest flush upon the plate 3 and be detachably connected to the head by means of the thumbscrew. As the thumb-screw is fixed against lateral movement upon the stationary plate the head may be folded without detaching the latter from the instrument by simply loosening said thumb-screw to permit of the plates being folded and then again tightening said thumb-screw to hold the plates in their folded position and to prevent accidental detachment ofthe instrument.

Having thus described the. invention, what is claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

l. A tripod-head, comprising normally-superposed members of substantially the same shape and size, certain of the members being oppositely disposed and pivotally connected to one of the other members, and also foldable inwardly in opposite directions and in substantially-parallel planes one upon the other.

2. A t-ripod-head, comprising a relativelyfixed member, and opposite members pivotally or hingedly connected to and foldable inwardly in substantially-parallel planes transversely across the fixed member, one of the foldable members being shorter than the other, and received between the fixed member and the said other foldable member, in the folded position of the head.

3. A tripod, having a head, comprising a relatively-fixed mem ber, provided with a legstandard hingedly connected to the outer side of the fixed member, opposite members pivotally or hingedly connected to and foldable inwardly in opposite directions in substantially-parallel planes transversely across each other and the xed member, one of the foldable members being shorter than the other,

and received between the fixed member and the other foldable members, in thc folded position of the head, and leg-standards hingctlly connected to the outer sides of the respective foldable members, the leg-standard of the shorter member being received between the leg-standards of the other members.

4. A tripod -head, comprising a relatively fixed or stationary member having an upstanding pin, and opposite members pivoted or hinged to the fixed member and foldable transverselyinward in oppositedirections and across the upper face of the fixed or stationary member, and provided with slots slidably receiving the upstanding pin.

5. A tripod-head, comprising a relatively fixed or stationary member, opposite members pivoted or hinged fo the fixed or stationary memberand foldable inwardly thereupon, each foldable member being provided with an arcuate slot struck from the pivotal connect-ion of the member as a center, and an upstanding pin carried by the fixed or stationary member, located equidistant from the pivotal connections of the members, and slidably received within the slots of both pivotal members.

6. A tripod-head, comprising a relatively fixed or stationary member, opposite members mounted to fold inward upon the xed or stationary member, each foldable member being provided with an arcuate slot, and a thumb-screw carried by the fixed or, stationary member, and the upper end of the thumbscrew forminga pin which is slidably received within the slots of the foldable members.

7. A tripod-head, comprising a relatively fixed orstationary mem ber,and opposite members pivoted or hinged to the upper side of the fixed or stationary member, and foldable transversely inwardly in opposite directions thereupon, one of the foldable members being spaced above the other, and the latter member being received between the former and the fixed or stationary member, in the folded position of the members.

8. A tripod-head, comprising a fixed or stationary member, an upwardly projecting thumb-screw carried thereby, and opposite pivotally connected members foldable inwardly upon the fixed or stationary member, and provided with slots slidably receiving the shank of the thumb-screw, the latter projecting at one side of the head and also forming means for connecting with the article to be supported.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES W. MORRELL. HART l-I. MCNAUGHTON. Witnesses:

C. E. CHAPPELL, CLAUDE CHAPPELL.

lCC) 

